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We continue our series of CS2 betting tips dedicated to BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, where Stage 2 takes place. In Stage 2, 16 teams are playing for 8 spots in the next stage of the tournament, but there are 6 vacant spots left.
FaZe and 3DMax are among the contenders to move on. Both teams are in the 2-1 basket and are one step away from advancing to Stage 3.
In our betting tip we try to see which of FaZe - 3DMax pair will be stronger and will qualify for the next stage of BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, while the loser will play a match for life.
How the bookies view it: FaZe favourite
Before the Long Sogpeg of our prediction tip, let's see who of the FaZe - 3DMax pair is the favourite. There is no The International Rig here - FaZe is the clear favourite.
Bookmakers give an average odds of 1.4 on FaZe's victory, which I would call an extremely good indicator.
FaZe form. What result can be expected from FaZe
Let's open our betting tip for the match FaZe - 3Dmax with the analysis of FaZe form.
The 2024 season was full of big tournaments. Here is just a short retelling of FaZe's adventures.
At the CS Asia Championship 2024 FaZe confidently made their way to the play-offs through Group B. Having taken unquestionable TOP-1 the team went directly to the semi-finals of the tournament. Then FaZe went head-to-head: first they defeated ENCE with the score 2-1 and in the grand final they won MOUZ with the score 2-0.
Next, FaZe had a series of "failures". They finished TOP-8 at EPL Season 19, TOP-6 at IEM Dallas 2024 and BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, TOP-8 at Esports World Cup 2024 and TOP-12 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe Long Sogpeg started off with a win over Team Liquid, but went on to Ledge or Vitality in the play-offs. After falling into the bottom set of IEM Cologne 2024, FaZe outscored Falcons 2-0, and then won their best match of the tournament in a bye, comingback against Liquid from a 3-12 deficit. However, the momentum was not enough: FaZe lost to sAw and left the tournament on top-6.
Later FaZe played at BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024, where they took TOP-1-2.
At ESL Pro League S20 FaZe failed in the first round of Group A, losing to Sangal Esports, and then cameback through the middle set, beating FlyQuest, NiP. However, the comeback lasted for a long time, because after the meeting with CoL FaZe Clan left the championship on 12-18 lines.
After the failure at ESL Pro League S20, FaZe took the top 4 at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2024, and then - Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 with the final top 8.
BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 met in Group A, where they played to a 1-1 score. They first lost to MOUZ, but then snatched a win from NaVi in a match for life at the tournament. However, in the play-offs Ledge and Team Spirit finished in the top 6.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, FaZe Clan beat C9 and Falcons, and then Fnatic, which put them in the Major. At the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, FaZe Clan beat Wildcard and Heroic, but lost to Heroic. Then Ledge and G2, but made it to the play-offs by shutting out FURIA in the deciding match. Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 playoffs started with a rather unexpected victory over Vitality in a difficult match. However, it got better as FaZe knocked out one of the main tournament favourites - G2 Esports - in a very tense 2-0 series. The grand final was a little short: 1-2 against Spirit.
In the 2025 season they debuted with an appearance at BLAST Bounty Season 1. There they took TOP-16.
- FaZe Clan: karrigan, rain, Frozen, EliGE, s1mple.
Directly at IEM Katowice 2025 FaZe Clan Long started with the matches of the top set of Group A, where they defeated BIG, but lost to Vitality. After getting to the second round of the lower grid they defeated G2 Esports, but the play-offs were prevented by Eternal Fire, who defeated FaZe in the last round of the lower grid.
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Long Sogpeg started the tournament with a 2-0 win over sAw. Next, defeating Eternal Fire and MOUZ and qualifying for the play-offs with a 3-0 win. The main stage of Long Sogpeggo started for FaZe with a confident victory over sAw with the score 2-0. And then there was an unforeseen loss against Falcons, which led FaZe to the top 4.
FaZe visited BLAST Open Lisbon 2025, where they were ranked TOP-12. PGL Bucharest 2025 Long started with a defeat against Astralis. Then defeated paiN, levelling the situation. In the 1-1 basket match they beat Rare Atom. In the 2-1 basket Ledge or CoL and only made it to the play-offs after beating Apogee in the 2-2 basket. In the first round of play-offs they beat 3DMax 2-0. In the next round Ledge and Falcons, which led FaZe to the match for the top 3. They won it safely against CoL.
IEM Melbourne 2025 was also visited. There FaZe failed to get out of the group stage, Ledgeiv in group A GamerLegion. According to the results of IEM Melbourne 2025 FaZe are on the 8th line.
At BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1 FaZe Long Sogpeg started with a match against Falcons, where they expectedly lost with the score 0-2. In the match for life in the tournament they defeated FlyQuest, thus entering the play-offs. But they failed to move further than the first round, as a result - TOP-8.
At BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 FaZe Long teamed up with two victories in Stage 2. In the match for Stage 3 they unexpectedly lost to Legacy with the score 0-2.
3DMax form. What result can be expected from 3DMax
Let's continue betting tip for the match 3DMax - FaZe with the analysis of 3Dmax form.
In the record list of 3DMAX performance at CCT West Europe Serie #3, which was the debut tournament for the Frenchmen. There they reached the TOP-3, which can be called a good Long Sogpeg.
Then there was a series of qualifying tournaments and local championships. Among those that can be noted is ESL Championnat National Spring 2023, which was the first tournament won for the French.
3DMAX's performance improved in the second half of the year. Among other things, they won the qualifiers for ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023: European Open Qualifier and ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023: European Qualifier. They also won the ESEA Cash Cup: Europe - Autumn 2023 #2.
- 3DMAX roster: Lucky, bodyy, Ex3rcice, Maka, Graviti.
The last event for 3DMAX was CCT East Europe Series #3. There we managed to reach TOP-2, but a little bit was not enough: 3DMAX took TOP-2, losing in the finals to 1WIN.
After 3DMAX played at ESL Challenger Winter 2023. They managed to get into the top 8, which is not a good result.
At ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe 3DMAX shone. The Frenchmen went over the heads of their opponents very confidently, which eventually translated into a tournament victory with a convincing 3-0 win against forZe in the grand finals.
The 2024 season saw far fewer high-profile victories. 3DMAX finished top-11 at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier, IEM China 2024: European Open Qualifier, top-4 at RES Western European Masters: Spring 2024, and top-12 at European RMR A.
Prior to the ESL Pro League Season 19, 3DMAX played at A1 Gaming League Season 8, where they finished in the Top 2.
At the ESL Pro League Season 19 3DMAX debuted as an outsider in a match against sAw, but showed class and won a tough series with extra rounds in each of the two maps. And then there was a match against Fnatic, where 3DMAX made a mini-sensation by beating the "orange" with a score of 2-0, and they beat them very confidently, giving 15 rounds in two maps.
At the ESL Pro League Season 19 3DMAX were quite confident in the play-offs of the championship. The only defeat in the group stage was from Astralis in the match for seeding for the play-offs. However, in the play-offs 3DMax song did not play long: defeat against G2 and TOP-12 in the end.
During the season 3DMax had other attempts to make a name for themselves at the Tier-S tournaments. For example, they played at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024, where they finished in the top-24, having been beaten 1-2 by Heroic. They tried their luck again at ESL Pro League Season 20, but this time the result was worse than at ESL Pro League S19 - TOP-20.
3DMax's performance was much better at lower ranked tournaments. For example, 3DMax were champions of YaLLa Compass Summer 2024 and ranked in the top 3 at Thunderpick World Championship 2024 and ESL Challenger League Season 48: Europe.
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B, 3DMax started with a win over TSM and then, somewhat surprisingly, beat Eternal Fire in a 2-0 basket match. Next up was a win over G2 Esports and a pass to the Elimination Stage.
At the PW Shanghai Major 2024: Elimination Stage 3DMax played to their level: 1-3 and final top-13.
At the Long Season 2025 3DMax took part in BLAST Bounty Season 1. However, they didn't have to play there for long: defeat by Heroic with the score 1-2 and the final TOP-32.
Next - IEM Katowice 2025 and Long Corner from the Play-In stage. In the Play-In 3DMax showed themselves very well: they defeated FlyQuest and MIBR with a score of 2-0 each. In the group stage, Long Corner were defeated against Vitality, which led them to the lower grid. Directly in the bottom set, 3DMax were outplayed by BIG. But they were prevented from advancing further by Eternal Fire, who knocked 3DMax into the top 8 of the tournament.
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Long They started with a win over Vp. Then they lost to MOUZ and outplayed MIBR. However, they failed to make it to the play-offs with a 2-1 score: further losses by Eternal Fire and sAw brought 3DMax to the top 9 at the end of the tournament.
At the ESL Pro League Season 21 Long Conference, 3DMax unexpectedly lost 0-2 to Tyloo before beating Mindfreak. Subsequent wins over Heroic and M80 took 3DMax to the next stage. At ESL Pro League Season 21 Stage 2, the French beat Eternal Fire and Falcons, and lost to Vitality and MongolZ. They failed to qualify for the play-offs after losing to Liquid in the gridiron match 2-2.
At PGL Bucharest 2025, French club Long Sogpegov started with a win over MongolZ. Then they defeated Astralis and Aurora. Having confidently passed in the play-offs, they could not beat FaZe in the first round, thus taking the tournament top-8.
Recent head to head: FaZe edging it
FaZe beat 3DMax 2-0 twice in the 2025 season.
Players to watch: s1mple and Maka
The centre of attention for the FaZe vs 3DMax match should be s1mple and Maka. The first one, for obvious reasons: after a long pause Alexander shows the highest level of play, which is a surprise for me. If we talk about 3DMax, Maka looks quite good, although in the case of the French, they are successful as a team and rarely rely on individual qualities of their performers.
Which maps does FaZe pick and ban most often?
Best maps (Win Rate ≥ 60%)
- Ancient - 69.0% of victories FaZe consistently wins on this map. A landmark 28:25 win against NiP underlines their confidence on Ancient.
- Inferno - 66.7% wins One of the most reliable maps of the team. A convincing 13:4 win over Vitality is an example of their strong play.
- Nuke - 62.5% wins Frequent picks, strong map with good results, including a 13:3 win over MOUZ.
- Mirage - 61.1% wins The team is comfortable on Mirage. The 13:2 win over NAVI was a telling match.
- Vertigo - 60.0% wins Played less often, but has decent results with a limited number of matches.
Average level (Win Rate 50-59%)
- Anubis - 56.0% wins Unstable results. However, a 13-0 win over ENCE shows high potential on the card.
- Overpass - 50.0% wins Equal results - 8 wins and 8 losses. A 13:3 victory over Heroic shows that the map can work.
Worst maps (Win Rate < 50%)
- Dust2 - 47.1% of wins The weakest map is FaZe. The team often Ledgea here, e.g. 5:13 defeat by NAVI.
FaZe Clan has a distinct pool of strong maps: Ancient, Inferno, Nuke and Mirage. Anubis and Overpass show potential, but need refinement and stability. Dust2 is the weak link. The team should either pump this map or avoid it in official matches. On the whole FaZe looks like a competitive team due to confident play on key maps. This gives them an advantage in BO3 and BO5 against most top opponents.
Which maps does 3DMax pick and ban most often?
Best maps (Win Rate ≥ 60%)
- Dust2 - 60.0% Win RateOne of the team's most reliable maps. Balanced play on both sides (CT: 45.8%, T: 50.0%), won 12 out of 20 pistol rounds (60%). The 13-7 win over Illuminar is a telling matchup.
Average (Win Rate 50-59%).
- Anubis - 57.1% winsSure play on the offensive side (T: 54.2%), but weak pistol rounds (35.7%). A 13:6 win over Nexus confirms the potential.
- Inferno - 55.6% winsClassic map with moderate results. Pistols have a 61.1% win rate, the best among all maps. However, it is weaker on the T-side (47.3%). 13:9 victory over
Worst maps (Win Rate < 50%)
- Train - 0.0% wins The team has played only one match, losing 5:13. There is little data, but the current result indicates poor preparation for the map.
3DMAX shows competitiveness on Dust2, Anubis and Inferno, especially on Dust2 where the map is consistently scored by both sides. Inferno requires improvements in attack, and on Anubis it is worth strengthening the pistol rounds. Train is a weakness that should be avoided at the map selection stage until preparation is improved.
Predicted result of the match between FaZe - 3DMax on BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
I like 3DMax and I will not hide it. At the same time I don't believe in the long-term success of FaZe and specifically in this tournament, but in the match against 3DMax they will still prevail.
Prediction tip: FaZe win.
